CalisthenicsIn review

Pistol Squat

A full-depth squat on one leg, with the other leg held straight in front.

This page is a working draft. A coach has not reviewed it, so read it as a starting point, not as checked instruction.

Pattern: Squat
Modality: Calisthenics
Difficulty: Advanced
Mechanic: Unknown
Force: Unknown
Laterality: Unilateral
Impact: Low
Trains where: Gym, Home
At home: Yes

How to do it

Set up

Stand on one leg and lift the other leg straight in front of you.
Reach the arms forward for balance.

Do the rep

Sit the hips back and down on the standing leg, and keep the whole foot flat.
Lower until the hip crease is below the knee, with the free heel off the floor.
Push through the whole foot and stand up tall on the same leg.

What counts as a rep

A rep counts when the hip crease drops below the knee of the standing leg and you return to a full stand without the free foot touching the floor.

One rep starts standing on one leg with the other leg straight in front, lowers until the hip crease is below the knee, and ends at a full stand on the same leg; count each side.

Breathing

Breathe in as you lower; exhale as you stand.

Cues

Heel down.
Arms and free leg forward.
Control the bottom.

Common mistakes

Heel lifting
What you seeThe heel of the standing foot leaves the floor at the bottom.
FixLower only as far as the heel stays down, and go deeper over weeks.
A flat foot gives a stable base for the squat.
Falling back at the bottom
What you seeThe body tips backward and you sit down on the floor.
FixReach the arms farther forward and lower more slowly. Use the box or assisted pistol squat until the bottom is stable.
A stable bottom position lets you finish the rep and stop safely.

Stop the set if

Stop if you feel sharp pain in the knee or hip.
Stop if you lose balance at the bottom.
End the set when you cannot stand up without the free foot touching the floor.

General educational content, not individual coaching or medical advice.

Muscles worked

Prime movers

Quadriceps · moderate confidence
Glutes · moderate confidence

Assisting

Hamstrings · moderate confidence
Adductors · moderate confidence
Deep core / trunk stabilizers · moderate confidence

Equipment

Bodyweight

In the app

You log this by hand. The camera coach does not watch this movement yet.

Tracking: Camera candidate

How this page was checked

Draft. A coach reviewer has not signed this off yet.

Draft text is original copy for Wave 2 batch 4, written from the blueprint CSV row and the Wave 2 rules page of 2026-10-12. No human review is complete.
Technique, cues, rep standard, breathing, stop cues, and error corrections need independent sources and the assigned review tier (blueprint two-source rule).
Programming roles, skill tier, failure cost, timed use, goal fit, and equipment follow the rules page; the switch-on PR must confirm them.
Anatomy uses the CSV planning hints; the assigned review tier must confirm it.
Legacy relations and engine edges stay empty until the progression ladder lane and S2-CAT-005.
Timed use and goal fit copy ex_bulgarian_split_squat, the closest Wave 1 record.
The CSV says bilateral. One leg does the work, so the record counts each side (rule 1).
Rule 2 gives one-leg squat rows single_leg and secondary_lower, as the Wave 1 lunges.
Skill tier advanced: rule 3 names the pistol squat. The CSV says beginner. Failure cost moderate: the user must control the stop on one leg (rule 3).
The optional box-step from the CSV is dropped; it does not fit the movement.

All instruction and editorial text in this record is original draft copy written for Allena. Planning metadata comes from the internal Wave-2 blueprint CSV.

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